Scottish Patient Experience Survey of GP and Local NHS Services 2011/12 Volume 3: Variation in the Experiences of Primary Care Patients

10 Detailed Findings - Work Status

10.1 People were asked which option best described their work status. The work status of respondents is shown in Table 8.

Table 8 Respondents by work status

10.2 For the analysis, groups were compared with people who were retired, the largest group. Work status had an effect on experience for all 39 questions modelled. For the most part this was generally a weak effect, however, there was a stronger effect for some questions including those related to accessing services.

10.3 We found that:

• Retired people had the most positive experiences. This finding is over and above the positive impact that increasing age has on experiences.
• Those working full time, part time or in full-time education or training had less positive experiences; they were less likely to answer positively to almost all of the questions.
• People who were unemployed or looking for work also had a less positive experience, with 24 questions out of 39 showing a less positive experience.
• Those who "do not work due to illness or disability" had similarly positive experiences to those who were retired.
• People who answered 'other' had much less positive experiences than the retired group; they were less likely to answer positively for 34 questions. Detailed information as to who included themselves in this group was not available from the survey; however this group may include people between jobs, people on maternity leave, people willing to remain out of work or people doing voluntary/unpaid work.

10.4 There may be various reasons which can explain these differences. For instance, difficulty in getting time off work to attend an appointment may have an impact on people's experience.